About Us: Portage Cleaners specializes in fine garment care! Our level of expertise is unparalleled, our dedication to our customers undiminished, and the quality of our work understood by our many, many satisfied clients. We are an experienced drycleaning and laundry company that cares about you and our environment. We utilize the latest technology, including "GreenEarth" Cleaning to provide for all of your needs. Come try our services today, and become another one of our customers that would have their clothes cleaned no where else.

Our History: Back in 1973 when John and Shirley Winterburn opened their first dry cleaning and laundry facility, long sideburns, bell bottom trousers and leisure suits were the height of fashion. Hairstyles and clothing styles have changed a good deal over the decades but the Winterburns continue to stand by one of their original slogans, "professional care for all you wear."

The Winterburns grew up in Comstock where John excelled in athletics, playing football, baseball and tennis at Comstock High School. Shirley played in the band and motivated her high school sweetheart and future husband from the sidelines as a cheerleader. Following graduation from high school in 1961, John attended Ferris State and served four years in the U.S. Air Force in San Antonio, Texas.

The Winterburns returned to the Kalamazoo area in 1967 where they launched a career in the food business, operating the Half Way House restaurant near the intersection of I-94 and Cork Street. The six years they worked there helped inspire a life-long love of culinary arts.

In 1973, opportunity knocked in the form of a brand new Laundromat at the comer of Westnedge and Garden Lane. The Winterburn's Washroom was among the very first Portage business to be connected to the city's incipient sewage system. That gave it a decided advantage over competition. Yet it took two long years of hard work - while raising a family - before the business turned a profit. But with the exception of one year, every year since then - 33 in all - brought an increase in business. John jokes, "it is either because of me or in spite of me."

The cleaning business, like everything else, has evolved. In 1973 with little or no public sewage system available in Portage and the lakes area, families could do little washing at home. But as the sewage system grew the loss in home business was more than made up by new clients moving into the burgeoning apartment complexes of the city.

The original Westnedge location held two small coin-operated self-service drying machines. Five years later, the Winterburns knocked out a wall and installed a regular commercial dry cleaning machine. As business continued to grow the Winterburns marked their tenth year with the purchase of the present location on Centre Avenue. Three years later, they acquired the Modern Cleaners on Portage Road. Operating two separate dry cleaning units proved impractical, and in 1989 the couple erected a 4,800 square foot addition to the Centre Street location and consolidated the three outlet's dry cleaning operations there.

The Winterburns have continued to invest in state-of-the-art technology. In 2004, for example. they installed a new $40,000 shirt press. John, an avid golfer and fisherman who makes an annual pilgrimage to northern Canada, has a special concern for the environment. They recently installed huge Green Earth dry cleaning machine utilizes liquid silicone as a medium, thereby reducing pollution.

The Winterburns maintain an active involvement in community affairs. "We try to give back to the community," they say. They provide annual financial support for the Portage Athletic Foundation, the schools and the bands as well as Western Michigan University.

The Winterburns have been actively involved in the Michigan Institute of Laundering and Dry cleaning for many years with John serving as district director, president and chairman of the board. The organization honored him in 1995 as man of the year for outstanding dedication and service to the fabrication industry. The Winterburns and their 35 employees continue to help Portage maintain its proud tradition of cleanliness, community support, and environmental awareness.